Government Dept. To Weigh Filling Kissinger's Chair

The Government Department will consider within the next few Weeks whether it will continue to reserve a tenured Faculty position for presidential adviser Henry A. Kissinger '50.

James Q. Wilson, chairman of the Government Department, said yesterday that Kissinger must tell the Department "as soon as possible" whether or not be plans to return to Harvard.

Because of a Faculty rule that a professor may take a leave of absence totalling a maximum of two years, Kissinger resigned his position as professor of Government in January 1971. 24 months after he joined the Nixon Administration as the President's chief national security adviser.

But prior to his resignation, Kissinger and the Government Department worked out an arrangement in which a chair in the Department would be reserved for him until the conclusion of President Nison's first term in office.

* No Word Yet

"Our understanding on him to that the Department would not appoint anyone to fill his place until after, this election." Wilson said yesterday." The election is over but I haven't had a chance to talk with him yet."

Wilson said he was in Washington Tuesday and had been "in touch with Kissinger`s office," but had not been able to find a mutually acceptable time" for a meeting.

Wilson said he personally expects Kissinger will want to stay in Washington during Nixon's second presidential term."

If Kissinger says that he wants to return after the completion of Nixon's White House tenure in 1976, the Government Department will probably decide that "it's time to take a fresh look at the subject" of filling his post," Wilson said.